Kinship Indication: Lemon Drops
by CUtopia
Summary: AU! - Albus Dumbledore has many secrets - see the one about his grandchild!


Entry for the "Hogwarts Fair 2014" Cooking Challenge – **Lemon Drops**

I hope you like it!

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><p>"Minerva, my dear, have you seen the gift I bought for Anna?" Albus Dumbledore asked his wife, running around their little cottage like a disturbed rooster, digging through dressers and cupboards while his wife, Minerva McGonagall, sat on the couch, reading the Daily Prophet with a unconcerned expression on her face. Albus let out an frustrated sigh as his search continued to be unsuccessful and turned to look at his wife.<p>

"Minerva, could you just help me?!"

"Albus, why don't you take a look at the kitchen table?" Minerva answered calmly, not bothering to look up from the Quidditch section. "You were reading the letter from Severus while you carried it. Did he finally heed your advise and pay Rolanda a visit?"

"Of course he did not, he can be a real coward from time to time," Albus grumbled, walking over to the kitchen only to come back with a big box which was wrapped in brightly coloured paper.

"We should have a serious conversation with him when we prepare the new school year, but now we have other things to take care of," Minerva sighed, placing the newspaper on the coffee table before standing up and walking to her husband, smoothing his robes. "I know that you are excited about seeing her again, but why don't you calm down a bit? You are really making me nervous."

"I am sorry, my love. I just want everything to be perfect."

Minerva smiled fondly at him and said:"But everything is perfect as long as Anna is here. Isn't it? That is what you said yourself."

"You are right... I will... I will just sit down and wait, I won't move a finger."

"Marvellous," she nodded, pulling her wand out of her pocket while Albus followed his own words and sat down, watching his wife making a huge cake fly over to the big table in the eating corner of their living room. She covered the table with the coffee tableware, the one they only took out of the cupboard on very special occasions and Albus chuckled to himself as he saw how her hands trembled slightly – she was just as aflutter as he was.

"Why don't you follow your own advise and sit down with me, love?"

Minerva, checking the position of the small bouquet of wild flowers for the fourth time, released a annoyed sigh before she let herself fall onto the couch next to him.

"Well, seems like we are not as cool as we thought we would be...," she murmured and he took her hand, his blue eyes twinkling.

"Quite right, but who could hold it against us? She only visits us on Christmas and on her birthday, therefore we are always curious how she might have changed. I feel the same about Ariana – I still see the small bundle lying in your arms while Poppy gives me the Skele-Gro for the finger and the nose you broke me while being in labour."

"The pain was unbearable and then you came with your horrible comments," Minerva giggled at the memory and they looked each other in the eye, lost in the memory of one of the best moments in their marriage. The silence between them was comfortable and their fingers caressed each other gently as they remembered their daughter Ariana growing up, marrying herself and having a baby, their granddaughter Anna.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and the two of them jumped from the couch in excitement, hurrying to reach the door. Minerva opened and within a second she had a young teen hanging at her neck, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Grandma!" A vivid voice exclaimed and Minerva slung her arms around the girl, pressing a kiss on her hair.

"Anna, by Merlin, stop growing!" the elder witch laughed and Albus watched the scene with a proud smile on his face until Anna pulled away to embrace her grandfather.

"Hello Anna. You look marvellous!" He smiled after they parted, letting his eyes roam over his grandchild. She was tall, having grown a lot since Christmas and had inherited her fathers tanned skin colour. It was perfectly matching her chestnut hair, which was flowing over her shoulders in light waves, the one thing she had in common with him and her mother, while her eyes resembled the of her grandmother, shining in a emerald green. His heart felt a bit heavy as he thought about how much older she looked, how adult despite being fifteen and he felt like time was flowing by way too fast, that he had missed so much of her growth.

"Did you have a good journey?" Minerva wanted to know while taking Anna's trunk and enchanting it to fly towards the guest room on its own before she lead her towards the prepared table.

"Mum and I did fly with a plane, it was rather funny! And then I used a portkey from London which was rather unpleasant, as you can imagine – I nearly landed on a squirrel. Oh, many greetings from mum, by the way, she will try to visit in a week! I am so happy to see you two again, I missed you so much!" Anna babbled happily while taking a seat. "There is so much I have to tell you, about school and, oh, I brought some holiday homework I could use some help on! And mum took me to muggle London, we went shopping and it was so amazing, and..."

"Anna, sweetheart, slow down a little bit, please," Albus smiled, raising his hand slightly and immediately, she closed her mouth, blushing slightly as she realised that she had been talking way too fast and too much.

"Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her lap but she grinned nonetheless, knowing that they did not disapprove this behaviour at all. Minerva charmed a knife to cut the cake into pieces and asked:"So, what is your father doing at the moment? And are you still enjoying school?"

Ariana Dumbledore II, Minerva's and Albus' daughter, their most kept secret, had met Anna's father, Luca Rodari, at the Academia di Magica, the Italian equivalent of Hogwarts located in the Tuscany, which she had been attending after Albus had felt the secret about his family was endangered due to Lord Voldemort's rise. Ariana and Luca had fallen in love with each other and after their graduation they had moved into a small flat in Venice together, where Luca's family lived.

After one year, he had proposed to her, waking suspicious feelings in Albus and the poor Luca had to sit through some hours of questioning by his soon father-in-law, but he had somehow understood that Albus had been concerned about the safety and the luck of his only daughter.

Soon after the marriage and past them both starting to work in the Department of International Cooperation in the Italian Ministry of Magic, Ariana had become pregnant with Anna, leaving Luca crying and laughing in luck at the same time. There was no doubt for Minerva and Albus that he was the right one for their daughter.

"He is in Australia at the moment, trying to sort out some... things. You know I am not that interested into the stuff mum and dad do at work. But school is pretty cool, even though I am currently having some problems with Transfigurations," Anna explained and gave Minerva and Albus a knowing grin, which they returned with a small chuckle.

"I am sure we will be able to sort that out, but first for the fun – you should open your birthday gift," Albus said fondly, shoving the big present over the table. "I hope you like it, Anna."

"Have you ever been wrong about a gift, grandpa?"

"No, probably not."

Anna smiled before ripping the wrapping paper apart and revealing the box containing different smaller boxes. She grabbed the biggest and opened it.

"Oh, I love it!"

The box was full of lemon drops, a addiction she shared with her grandfather, and Albus added:"It has a self-refilling charm on it so you will never run out of supplies."

"Thank you!"

And instantly, both of them took one and plopped them into their mouths with a enraptured expression – they tended to eat them at every situation in their life's, regardless if it was a happy or a sad one.

Minerva simply shook her head over the two of them – the kinship was more than obvious.


End file.
